Jeremiah 8:1-2. At that time, saith the LORD, they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of his princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves: and they shall spread them before the sun and the moon, and all the host of heaven, whom they have loved, and whom they served, and after whom they have walked, and whom they have sought, and whom they have worshipped: they shall not be gathered, nor be buried; they shall be for dung upon the face of the earth.
This is an awful picture. Here is a nation that would worship the sun, and the moon, and the stars, instead of worshipping God. Here they are, and their bones lie exposed to the sun and moon and stars which they had worshipped, dead people before lifeless gods. This is all that idolatry produces for the ruined people who have turned away from their true Friend and Helper; their bones lie exposed in the presence of the things that they made to be their gods. How dreadful is the result of sin! No matter what modern preachers say, a sinful course must be a disastrous one. It is in the very nature of things that we cannot go the wrong road, and yet be happy. Wrong must end in wrong, it cannot be otherwise; the universal conviction in the conscience of man teaches us this fact.
Jeremiah 8:3. And death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue of them that remain of this evil family, which remain in all the places whither I have driven them, saith the LORD of hosts.
These people would not have God, they cast him off; and now he so far casts them off that they feel that it would have been better for them if they had never been born, and they would rather die than live: «Death shall be chosen rather than life.»
Jeremiah 8:4. Moreover thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD; Shall they fall, and not arise? shall he turn away, and not return?
The old proverb says, «It is a long lane that has no turning.» So the Lord seems to ask, «Will these men always go on in sin? Will they always turn away from me? They change from bad to worse; will they never change from worse to better?»
Jeremiah 8:5. Why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding? they hold fast deceit, they refuse to return.
Perseverance in evil is the very venom of evil. When men not only backslide, but continue perpetually to backslide, they are doubly dyeing their garments in the scarlet of iniquity. When men «refuse to return» to the Lord, and continue to refuse to return, surely they are digging their own graves exceeding deep.
Jeremiah 8:6. I hearkened and heard,
It is God who is speaking: «I hearkened and heard,»
Jeremiah 8:6. But they spake not aright:
«I tried to discover whether there was any good in them. I listened to hear them offer a prayer, I watched to mark anything like repentance in them.»
Jeremiah 8:6. No man repented him of wickedness, saying, What have I done? every one turned to his course, as the horse rusheth into the battle.
See how God described these people. When he might have expected that some of them would relent, and in their thoughtful moments turn to a better mind, they did not do so; but, as the horse, when he hears the war-trumpet, rushes into the midst of the fray, so did these people go headlong into sin with desperate resolve. Careless of wounds and death, they rushed to their destruction. I hope that this is not the case with any of my hearers at this time; I pray God that it may not be so.
Jeremiah 8:7. Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the LORD.
The birds take wing across the sea when the damps of autumn come; and, by-and-by, when spring returns, they twitter about our roofs again, punctual to the appointed time. But men come not to God in their season; they fly not from their sins, they return not to the Lord. The crane and the swallow rebuke the foolishness of men who know not the time to return to God, and know not their way back to him.
Jeremiah 8:8-9. How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us? Lo, certainly in vain made he it; the pen of the scribes is in vain. The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the LORD; and what wisdom is in them?
This test may serve as a motto for some, in these days, who believe themselves to be wiser than Scripture, and who fancy that, in their great wisdom, they are able to correct this inspired Book! Many set up in the trade of «Bible-makers» nowadays; they profess to be the revealers of revelation, the improvers of this blessed Book of God. Ah! but this passage still standeth true, «They have rejected the word of the Lord; and what wisdom is in them?»
Jeremiah 8:10-11. Therefore will I give their wives unto others, and their fields to them that shall inherit them: for every one from the least even unto the greatest is given to covetousness, from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely. For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
This is a very mischievous thing. For the preacher of Christ to be honest and fearless, and to speak unpalatable truth, is right in God's sight; but to gloss over the great facts about sin and judgment, and to say to the ungodly, «Oh, do not trouble yourselves! ‘Peace, peace; when there is no peace;'» this is to murder the souls of men; and I doubt not that the blood of multitudes will be upon the skirts of those teachers who have tried to make everything pleasant to the wicked, and to suit the age in which they lived. The Lord himself says of the prophet and priest who have dealt falsely, «They have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.»
Jeremiah 8:12. Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush:
What a striking expression is this! To what a condition of shameless obstinacy have men's minds been brought when it can be said of them, «They were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush.» The very power to be ashamed was taken from them. Surely, almost the last ray of any hope of salvation must be gone from the man who cannot blush at the thought of his own iniquity.
Jeremiah 8:12-18. Therefore shall they fall among them that fall: in the time of their visitation they shall be cast down, saith the LORD. I will surely consume them, saith the LORD: there shall be no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree, and the leaf shall fade; and the things that I have given them shall pass away from them. Why do we sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the defensed cities, and let us be silent there: for the LORD our God hath put us to silence, and give us water to drink, because we have sinned against the LORD. We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of health, and behold trouble! The snorting of his horses was heard from Dan: the whole land trembled at the sound of the neighing of his strong ones; for they are come, and have devoured the land, and all that is in it; the city, and those that dwell therein. For, behold, I will send serpents, cockatrices, among you, which will not be charmed, and they shall bite you, saith the LORD. When I would comfort myself against sorrow, my heart is faint in me.
Because the people refused this testimony, because they seemed set on mischief, and resolved to die, therefore the prophet's heart was faint within him.
Jeremiah 8:19-20. Behold the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people because of them that dwell in a far country: Is not the LORD in Zion? Is not her king in her? Why have they provoked me to anger with their graven images, and with strange vanities? The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.
I will read that twentieth verse again: «The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.» This may be the lament of some of my present hearers; and if it be, may they bow now before the Lord in true penitence of heart, and may he in pity save them this very hour! The harvest is past, the summer is ended; but, oh! may they: soon be saved!
Jeremiah 8:21. For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I am black; astonishment hath taken hold on me.
That is the man to be God's prophet, the man who makes the sorrows of his people-to be his own sorrows, who does not perform the duties of his office as a mere matter of profession, but enters into his service with a weeping heart, longing to be made a blessing to men.
Jeremiah 8:22. Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there?
No; there is none. There is balm in Christ, there is a Physician who once hung on Calvary's cross; but there is no balm and no physician in Gilead. If there were,
Jeremiah 8:22. Why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?
This exposition consisted of readings from Psalms 12:1; and Jeremiah 8:1, and Jeremiah 9:1.